As foreclosure properties keep flooding the markets in places like California, the number of foreclosure investors continues to increase. Many of these folks are also rehab investors who like to turn less-than-lovely homes into the most beautiful home on the block; the art of flipping homes has jumped to the spotlight once more. While every real estate investor’s story is different—and plans almost never go entirely as they’re supposed to—the gist of how most investor go about rehabbing foreclosure homes is similar. The process starts with a search for the right foreclosure property; with all the websites available, locating a list of foreclosures in your area shouldn’t be difficult. But here’s a word of caution: not every property in foreclosure is gold mine waiting to be explored, quite the contrary I’m afraid. Most homes that reach foreclosure aren’t worth your time or money; the trick is finding a property with enough equity in it to generate a profit after repairs and holding time. Therefore, it’s easy to see why estimating repairs is such an important step in the process. If you are not a contractor or someone with significant contracting knowledge then you need to find or be working with a reliable, professional contractor. Once you find them, encourage a working relationship with this person; their services are priceless. Make sure to ask your contractor for liberal estimates. Equally important, be conservative when estimating a selling price for your property after the repairs are completed. This combination will help to minimize risk of a negative return on your investment. To accurately estimate your property’s selling price, look up similar homes in the surrounding neighborhoods and see what they’re going for. Or, ask a trusted realtor or fellow real estate investor—both should have a strong, though unofficial, grasp on the local market And the last point for this little blog—a point I should probably have mentioned next earlier—is securing proper financing. You must do this before purchasing your foreclosure property (or any property for that matter), and it’s wise to get pre-approved before looking. You have a few options when it comes to loan shopping. You can choose the traditional route and work with a bank or mortgage broker/lender or you can choose a private lender with hard money programs like www.spec-loan.com. Either way, hope this gives a broad perspective of rehabbing foreclosures.